Sharp County record., 1887-02-24
NOT A DELUSI0N.
Sermon BY Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage, ., ,.
How Millions Of the Human Race Have
Been DeIuded" Into BetteT Lives
and Brighter HODes-A Few
Notable Examples.


took for his text a part of the cwenty-irst
verse Of the twenty. first chapterof Ezekiel
ssHe made his arrows bright, ne consulted
with images. he looked IN the liver' The
sermon was as follows:
Two modes Of divination by which the
Kfngof Babylon proposed to ind ont the VIII
of God. He took a bundle Of arrows, put
them together, mixed them up, then pulled
forth one. and by the inscription on 1t de-
cided which city ne should dr5t assault
Then an animal vas slain, and by the
lighter or darker color Of the liver the
brighter or darker prospect Of success was
Inferred. That IS the meaning OF the text;
he made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, ne looked in the liver
STUPID delusi0nl And yet all the ages
have been filed with delusions. It seems
As if the world loves to be hoodwinked
the calusiou Of the text IS only 4 specimen
OF A vast number Of deceits practced upon
the human race
In the latter part Of the last century JO-
hanna S0uthcote came forth pretending ia
have Divine power, made prophesies, aad
chapels built n her honor, and one hundred
thousand disciples came forth to follow
her. About five years before the birth oI
Christ ADOIlouus was born. and he came
sor+h. and after five years being speechless,
according to the tradition. he healed the
sick and raised the dead, and preached Writ
lie. and. according to the myth having
deceased. was brought TO resurrection!
The DelDhic Oracle deceived vast null
+itudes Of DeopIe-the PythOuess, seated N
she temple Of AppOlO, uttering crazy
fargon from which the people guessed or
nisguessed their Individual or national
fortunes or misfOrtuues. The utterances
zvere of such d nature that you could read
them anv way you wanted TO read them.
So the ancient augures deceived the peo-
Die. The priests Of those augures, by the
fight Of birds, or by the intOnati0n OF thun-
der. or Dv the inside appearance or slam
animals. rnld the fortunes or mlstortunes
of individuals or nations. The slDyLs de-
ceived the people. The sibyLs were sup
posed to be inspired women who lived IN
caves and who wrote the slDyLLlne DOCKS,
afterwards purchased by Tarquln the
Proud. So late as the year 1879 a man
arose in New YORK. pretending 70 be d.
vine being, and played MS part so we'll
that wealthy merchants became lls 1lsci-
Dtas and threw their fortunes INTO ais dis
cipleship.
And so n all ages there have been NEGRO
maucies. incautatOns, vitchCrafts. sOrcer-
les. magical arts. snchantments, divlna-
tons ana deIusIOus. The one OF the
text was OnIv Il specimen Ot that which
has been transDIrIug n all ages Of the
world. None Of these deIuslOns accom-
DIished anv good; they deceived, they
Dauperized the people they we're as cruel
as they we're absurd: they opened no hos
Ditals. they healed no wounds, they wiped
ayvav no tears. they emauciuated 10 5ert-
dom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusiOns combined are az nothing COM
pared with the delusiOn now abroad n the
wOrgd-the delusion Of the Christian re-
igion. That deIuslOn has to-day Two nun
dred million dupes. Ltproposes toencircie
the earth with its girdle That which has
been called a delusiOn has already over
snadowed the Appalachian range on this
side of the sea. and il mas Overshadowed
the Balkan and Caucasian ranges On the
other side the sea; it has con-
quered England and the United
States. This champion delusiOn, this
hoax. this swindle Of the ages, as it has
been called. has gone forth 70 conquer the
islands Of the Pacific; the Melauasla and
the Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia
have already surrendered TO the delusiOn.
Yea. it has conquered the Indian arcnI-
pelago. and BoTneO, and Sumatra- and
Celebes and Java have fallen under its
wiles. In the Fiji Islands, where there are
100, 900 people, LO2, 900 have already become
the dupes of this Christian religion, and il
things 20 on az they are now going on and
if the influence Of this great lallucinarIOn
Of the ages can not be stopped, 1t WI.
swallow the globe.
Surprising, then, that Christianity s the
dalusion Of the centuries, as some have
pronounced it, I propose this morning 10
show YOU what has been accomplished by
his chimera, this fallacy, this hoax, this
swindle Of the ages.
IN the first place, I remark that this de-
lnsiOn Of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations Of human char
acter will 90 down the aisle Of any
church in Christeudom, and 1 will find on
either side that aisle those who we're once
Drofiigate, profane, unclean Of speech and
unclean Of action, drunken and lost. But
nv the power Of this delusion Of the Chris
tan religion they have been completely
transformed, and now they are kind and
amiable, and genial and loving and useful.
Everybody sees the change. Under the
power Of this great thalIucination they have
quit their former associates, and
whereas they once found their chief de-
light among those who gambled and swOre,
and raced horses, now they find their
chief Joy among those who 90 to prayer
meetings and churches, so complete IS this
delusion. Yea, their own families have
noticed it: the wife has noticed it; the
children have noticed it, The money that
went for rum, now goes for books and for
clothes and for education. He IS new
man: all who know him say there has
been a wonderful change. What Is the
cause Of this changel This great hallu-
cinatiou Of the Christian religion There
Is az much difference between what he Is
now and what he once was az between a
rose and a nettle az between dove and a
vulture, az between day and night.
Tremendous delusiOn.
Admiral Farragut- one Of the most ad-
mired men Of the American navy, early
became a victim Of this Christian deIusiOn,
and seated, not long before his DEATH at
Long Branch, he was giving some friends
an account Of his early life. He said:
MY father vent down IN behalf Of the United
States Government 70 put an end 70 Aaron